ambition and my new six

my scrawled notes!

Writing this newest novel has been a rather intensive process. Yesterday,  I told the Sasquatch that I felt like this novel was "squeezing the juice out of me," and I really meant it! Perhaps because it was just the memorial and this book is a companion to Where the Mountain Meets the Moon which meant so much to me, I've been feeling this overpowering desire to make this book "really good."

Which is how I try to be with all my books, of course. The difference with this book is, as I mentioned before, I'm afraid that my ambitions might be greater than my abilities.  But if dogged determination and will power can do it, I might have a shot. I've been in a state of overwhelming, constant, concentration, scrawling notes in my notebook wherever I am--the subway, the bathroom, the grocery line--if I'm not at the computer. When I can't sleep at night, I tell myself if the book is bad, at least it won't be from lack of effort!

One of the things I've been thinking about is my new six, the six things that are important for me to write about in this book. Now, they are:

PEACE
HARMONY
BALANCE
FORGIVENESS
ACCEPTANCE
EMPATHY

Interesting to see how they changed from my original six and I wonder what they'll end up being when the book is done!

on my desk monday

Inspiration for "Return to Sky" though now the book may be called "The Starry River of the Sky!"  (Hint: it's the Chinese three-legged toad, whom there are many myths about--some conflicting-- but said to be an inhabitant of the moon). I'm almost done with my revision which means this blog will be soon be back to its normally scheduled ramblings!

a day at the museum

My novel has been all-consuming the last few weeks, as you might have been able to tell by my intermittent blogging. But I did try to leave the house a couple of times. The Chihuly exhibit at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts was ending plus I wanted to do a little more research for my writing, so I decided to make some time to go to museum with the Sasquatch.

The sculpture in front of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts reminds me of someone...

Did I mention there was a Chihuly exhibit going on? There was a really, really long line to get into the museum:

We were in line for about an hour when we saw other people just walking right in. Curious, the Sasquatch followed them to see what secret they had that gained them such easy admission. He quickly found out that there was an automated kiosk which allowed you to buy your tickets immediately!! We jumped out of line, bought our tickets from the machine and got in within minutes! Crazy! I wanted to go back outside and yell to everyone waiting in line about it, but Sasquatch thought it might make a mad panic.

Because it was an extremely crowded and busy show as it was. It was very, very beautiful but hard to enjoy with the constant squeeze of people.

This was one of my favorite pieces. I thought it looked like a bunch of carrots, but the Sasquatch thought it looked like intestines. I guess that is why I am the children's book author and he is a Sasquatch.


After the Chihuly exhibit, we went to the Asian Art wing so I could do a little research and get some inspiration. It was not crowded at all in the Asian art wing, which I am not complaining about. I was able to look at everything at my leisure, looking for details that could help my story:

A possible setting for a scene.

This bowl was particularly helpful, especially when compared to the bowl I saw during my research trip to the Met.

These are asparas, kind of the Asian equivalent of angels. They aren't in my book, but I'm intrigued about them now. Maybe they'll make an appearance in my next novel!

This was actually vey helpful as well. I wasn't sure what saddles looked like in ancient China!

It was a lovely day at the museum!

on my desk monday

I'm in the last stretch of the first draft of my novel and the everything is in disarray. I'm not that tidy to begin with, so when the writing becomes all-consuming the mess becomes chaotic. It's actually quite an accurate reflection of what is going on in my brain!

Luckily, my understanding Sasquatch has taken to buying me flowers at the weekly farmer's market ("If I go right before the market closes, they sell them real cheap!" he says). I love these lilies, the scent of them helps me dream of a place beyond my reality and seeing them encourages me that something beautiful can exist amongst all the mess.

on my desk monday

I'm in the middle of writing "Return to Sky" (though the title might change) and had to scrawl out a little map to help me keep things in order. I kept having the shadows fall and the sunset on the wrong side. Also I wanted make sure the geography was working with what I had set up in Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. Maybe when I finish the third book (now called Needle at Sea Bottom), I can include an elaborate, less-scrawly map!

on my desk monday

In all my interviews, I usually say I write the story before I draw the pictures. An exception to this was the cover of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, where I drew my idea for the cover long before the book was done. For "Return to Sky," the same thing is happening. Recently, this image for the cover came into my mind:



We'll see if the image makes it to the final book...when I finish it (about 1/3 left to go, I think).

on my desk monday

This is a cute new kitchen timer that I use while writing. I've been having a lot of back/shoulder soreness lately from being hunched over the computer so much that I decided to get this to use in the studio. I set it for an hour and every time it rings, I force myself to get up and stretch. The ticking noise was hard to get used to, but now it is kind of a white noise that blends away...

on my desk monday

Writing supplies!

I'm trying to write my new novel "Return to Sky" which means I need hair clips to hold back my growing-out bangs (I chose ones with goldfish to bring me luck!) and candied ginger. All my novels have been fueled by a steady ingestion of candied ginger. I usually eat the Trader Joe's brand but for some reason my local Trader Joe's has been sans candied ginger lately...which means I've resorted to Whole Foods and their expensive Australian version. Sigh. Hopefully, this will at least last me a chapter or two!

masterpieces at the met

So I finally took my research trip to the Met to see their special display of Chinese Art. It was my last bit of procrastination research before starting "Return to Sky."

But it was very helpful. I think one of these objects might make a possible cameo appearance in my story! We'll see...



Of course, after seeing the Chinese exhibit, it was great fun just to wander around the Met itself and see all the great master paintings and sculptures. Every time, I saw something beautiful I felt inspired. I kept thinking of new ideas for new books--when I saw this famous Degas sculpture of a 14 yr ballerina:

I kept thinking, someone should write a children's novel from that 14 yr old girl's point of view! That would be fascinating--like Girl with a Pearl Earring, but for kids. Well, I looked it up and there IS a novel about that 14 yr dancer, but after reading the descriptions (I guess i should've figured that ballet had a dark side) I don't think it's for kids...

Regardless, I have to admit the most exciting sight of the day for me was actually outside the Met. Because parked in front of the museum was a CUPCAKE TRUCK!

Yes, instead of truck selling ice cream, it sold cupcakes. I was so excited. It's opened my eyes to all new possibilities in terms of my cupcake dreams. If I can't afford a bakery, maybe I could just have a truck! And this works so well because the Sasquatch is studying to become a diesel mechanic, he can fix my truck for free!

SO, here's the idea for my future:

Plan A: children's book author/illustrator
Plan B: Cupcake Bakery
Plan C: Cupcake truck.

I'd still really, really rather Plan A work out, but at least the back-up plans could be sweet...

My six

Even though I've just finished up Dumpling Days, I'm already making plans for my next novel "Return to Sky." I admit I've been a bit scared to begin this one, even though I have been thinking about it for quite some time. Truthfully, I'm afraid my ambitions for it are greater than my abilities. But, I'm trying to take courage just like I did before when I first began work on Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. I had said I was going with Samuel Beckett's quote "Try again. Fail again. Fail better." I'm still going with the "fail better."

But a new quote has also crossed my mind. Recently, I read this post by Brenda Bowen where she excerpted Virginia Wolff's speech at the National Book Awards. In that speech Virgina Wolff talked about "Faulkner's six"--the six things writers should write about. Here's an excerpt:

Faulkner said in 1949 in the Nobel speech that if we are not writing about these six things we are not doing our job. They are love, honor, pity, pride, compassion and sacrifice. I think of them as Faulkner's six.

I thought that was interesting and quite moving, and it made me think of the things that are important to me write about, especially for this book. Right now, I think my six would be:

LOVE
KINDNESS
EMPATHY
RESPONSIBILITY
PEACE
JOY

But I think I'll keep tweaking and changing it. What would your six be?

I hope you aren't sick of me...

So, it's official! I am super excited to say that I am now contracted for THREE more novels! Yes, three. I really hope you are aren't sick of my books because there are three more coming down the pipeline. Right now, the ideas for them are:

1. DUMPLING DAYS: I did a quick little poll on my facebook fan page asking if people would rather another fantasy like Where the Mountain Meets the Moon or a sequel to The Year of the Rat. It was close, but the majority wanted to find out what else happened to Pacy. Well, the Writing Muse can be finicky and contrary but this time it was rather amenable. Because DUMPLING DAYS, as I am calling it now, will be the further adventures of Pacy--specifically the summer she visits Taiwan with her family and experiences the Ghost Festival. If you notice, the Writing Muse was not, however, willing to make the story into "The Year of the Pig" or "The Year of the Tiger" but you never know. Writing Muses are very fickle. The book is slated for publication in Fall 2011

2. RETURN TO SKY: After writing, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, I realized there were so many stories that I wanted so badly to use but was not able to. Those "leftover" stories have twisted around and are beginning to form a new story, which will be RETURN TO SKY. It will be another folktale/fantasy like Where the Mountain Meets the Moon but it will not be a sequel. It will be more like a companion book (I have sneaking suspicion one of the characters from Where the Mountain Meets the Moon will show up). I am pretty excited about this one, but am glad it is not slated until Fall 2012 because that gives me plenty of time to do it right.

3. NEEDLE AT SEA BOTTOM: This will also be a folktale/fantasy companion book to Where the Mountain Meets the Moon and RETURN TO SKY. I have lofty aspirations of making the three into a trilogy of sorts. This book idea is actually inspired by a tai chi posture (for a short while I was learning tai chi, I need to find time to get back to that...). If all goes as planned, I will be writing a boy as the main character! The book is not expected out until Fall 2013.

And after that, what will I do? Who knows? Maybe something completely different. A mystery? A romance? A cookbook? Or maybe just go on vacation. (A travel book sounds nice, doesn't it?)